Home automation company beats expectations and wows investors, mostly by being slow and deliberate, avoiding risk in the smart-home category.
Julie Jacobson
Julie Jacobson is founding editor of CE Pro, the leading media brand for the home-technology channel. She has covered the smart-home industry since 1994, long before there was much of an Internet, let alone an Internet of things. Currently she studies, speaks, writes and rabble-rouses in the areas of home automation, security, networked A/V, wellness-related technology, biophilic design, and the business of home technology. Julie majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, spent a year abroad at Cambridge University, and earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a recipient of the annual CTA TechHome Leadership Award, and a CEDIA Fellows honoree. A washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player, Julie currently resides in San Antonio, Texas and sometimes St. Paul, Minn. Follow on Twitter: @juliejacobson
Julie Jacobson's Latest Posts
Leedarson’s Arrival Sensor: The Most Interesting Little Z-Wave Device at ISE 2017
New “Arrival Sensor” from Leedarson lets a home automation system know if you’re coming or going — like an iBeacon but with Z-Wave.
Control4’s New RK-1 is One Very Smart Router with Remote Monitoring for Networks and Home Automation
Control4 puts Pakedge BakPak cloud service in the powerful RK-1 router, eliminating the need for a separate controller to manage and monitor home networks and home-automation gear. Product debuts at ISE 2017.
Now This is Disruptive: I Just Set Up a Free Smart Home Consultation with Amazon
Through Amazon Home Services, smart-home consultants will spend an hour at your pad explaining home automation and networking, pushing products like Ecobee, Amazon Echo, Bose, Philips Hue and Fire TV, and promoting services like Prime Fresh.
RTI Picks Harvard MBA as CEO of the Remote Control and Home Automation Co.
Edward (Ed) McConaghay, West Point grad and Harvard MBA, comes to RTI with vast experience in finance, operations and technology; plans to meet dealers and distributors at ISE 2017.
HDBaseT Snafu? Don’t Update Samsung TVs!
Some dealers and manufacturers are claiming the latest Samsung TV update disables HDBaseT, advising users to shut off auto-updates for now.
King of Home Automation: Crestron Revenues Revealed
Crestron Electronics, a giant in building automation and smart-home technology, has tripled its revenues since 2012; CTO Fred Bargetzi discusses Mark Zuckerberg’s Jarvis AI home automation system.
Savant Home Automation Dealers Seem Newly Energized at Integrator Summit
Breaking its relative silence over the past four months, Savant revealed new developments in home automation and HD over IP at Integrator Summit, with some 600 dealers in attendance.
The Strange Alt History of Home Automation According to Coldwell Banker
Self-professed “pioneer in smart homes,” real estate giant Coldwell Banker traces the beginnings of the home-automation movement to the 1997 launch of GM’s OnStar, followed by the 2010 debut of Nest. Plus: CE Pro’s own History of Home Automation in pictures.
Turnkey Home Theaters from $69,000: Can Rayva Save the Category?
Recently launched by several A/V industry luminaries, Rayva showed an impressive home theater at IBS 2017, pitching turnkey rooms that start at $69k and go well into six figures.
Crestron Overhauls Studio, Makes Home Automation and A/V Much Simpler to Program
Crestron Studio v1.6 makes it simple to program complex audio/video systems, coupled with home automation through Pyng; reduces cost of ownership for customers.
How Dish is Winning by Cannibalizing Itself: AirTV, Dish-on-a-Stick, Native Alexa Voice
Demonstrated at CES 2017, Dish Networks’s new AirTV box and Dish-on-a-Fire-TV-Stick could cut into its traditional satellite service; First native Alexa Voice control for TV demo’d.
